(1) Technical Field
This invention generally relates to the processing of cartridge cases for center fire cartridges. More specifically the invention relates to the inspection of cartridge cases e.g., of their fuzing system or their dimensional accuracy, or as to whether or not the primer caps have been removed from the cartridge cases.
An important problem arising in connection with the loading or reloading of cartridge cases (ammunition reloading) of modern center fire cartridges is the need for distinguishing between different cartridge cases which are identical with the exception of their fuzing systems. Ammunition loading or reloading equipment or ammunition loading or reloading machines in which new cartridge cases or cartridge cases which have been fired once or several times are filled with gunpowder or another propellant, provided with a primer cap, and in some machines are provided with a projectile, are designed for a processing and handling of cartridge cases having a uniform fuzing system.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
The so-called boxer fuzing system for center fire cartridges comprises a primer cap having a built-in anvil. The anvil is a conical member, which has been pressed into the primer cap and which when the cartridge is being fired presents a resistance to the impinging firing pin or hammer of the firearm and thus promotes the ignition of the priming explosive, which is disposed between the top of the anvil, under the striking action of the firing pin or hammer.
The cartridge cases for receiving boxer primer caps have a vent at the center of the primer pocket, which is provided in the cartridge case and contains the primer cap. The fired primer cap is removed from such a cartridge case by means of a pin, which is inserted into the cartridge case from above, i.e., from the mouth of the case, and forced against the primer cap so that the latter is forced out of the primer pocket.
On the other hand, cartridge cases provided with the so-called Berdan fuzing system have an anvil which is fixedly installed in the primer pocket or is integral with the case. For this reason Berdan primer caps have no anvil and their vent is eccentriclly formed in the primer pocket because that parat of the case which constitutes the anvil is exactly centered. In order to ensure a uniform performance of the fuzing opration in Berdan cases, they are often formed with two or three vents, all of which are eccentrically disposed in the case or primer pocket so that the case would severly be damaged by an attempt to remove the primer cap by an ejecting operation along a straight line, as has been described for the boxer system. Because the primer caps used in the two fuzing systems differ in size, it is not possible to use boxer primer caps in Berdan cartridge cases and Berdan primer caps in boxer cartridge cases.
The processor of case material faces the problem that cartridge cases which have the same appearance but contain mutually incompatible fuzing systems must be distinguished and sorted quickly and at proper times. That problem will become particularly critical in connection with the reloading of previously fired cartridge cases. In that case an inadvertent processing of Berdan cases on machines specifically designed for a reloading of boxer cases must be prevented and it must be ensured that a case provided with a boxer fuzing sytem will not inadvertently be processed on a Berdan machine. The pressing of a primer cap into a cartridge case which is not proper for that primer cap may result in an unintended ignition of the primer cap and this may have numerous consequences, all of which are most undesirable.
The faster and the more automatic a machine for reloading fired cartridges is operated, the more disastrous will be the consequences of a confusion of boxer and Berdan cases on the mechanism of the machine.
In the United States, where the reloading of fired cartridge cases is performed on a large scale, the cartridge cases predominantly consist of boxer cases. For this reason the manufacturers of the machines for processing cartridge cases, whether said machines are manually operated or motor-driven, have not incorporated means for a protection against such confusion in the machines thus far.